Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-06-03
ISLAND POND VERMONT JUNE g. 1887

1 NNN 9NeAAdOd vi loIo y among Those VINO
are gasping their last gasp far away from
home and kindred, whom they love as much
| as we love wife and parents and children
| Not waiting until you are dead to put upon
| your graves wreath of recognition, this
hour we put on your living brow the garland
| OF nations praise
Oh, men Of the Western Gulf SQUADRON
| OF the Eastern Gulf squadron, of the South
atlantic squadron, of the North Atlantic
| squadron, of the Mississippi squadron. of the
racine squadron, of the West India souodron
ana OF the Potomac hotilla, hear our tbanksi
t lake the benedictlon of our churches. Accent
Gne hoSpltalities of the nation If we had our
hoty, h"y we would get you not only a pension but a
nolie ana princey wardrobe, and an euui
page and banquet while you live, and after
| your departure catafalque, and amausoleum
OF sculptured marble, with a model of the
ship in which you won the day. 1t is con-
sldered gallant thing when in a naval fight
| the flagship with its blue ensign goes ahead
| up river or into a bay, Its admiral standing
in the shrouds watching and giving orders.
But | have to tell you, Oh veterans of the
American navy if you are as loyal to
| Christ as you were to the Govern
| ment, there is a flagship sailing ahead of yon
Of which Christ is the admiral and He
| watches from the shrouds, and the heavens
| are the blue ensign, and He leads you toward
| the halbor, and all the broadsides of earth
and hell cannot damage you; and ye, whose
| garments were once red with your own blood
| Shall have robe washed and made white in
the blood of the Lamb. Then strike eight
| bells! High noon in heaven!
With such anticipation, o. veterans Of the
| American navyl charge you bear up under
the aches and weaknesses that you still carry
from the war times. You are not as stalwaTt
as you would have been but for that nervous
strain and for that terrific exposure. Let every
ache and pain, instead Of depressing, remind
| YOU of your fidelity The sinking of the Wee
hawken off Morris Island, December g. 1868,
was a mystery. She was not under fire The
sea was not rough But Admiral Dahlgren
from the deck of the flag steamer Philadel-
phia, saw her gradually sinking, and finally
she struck the ground, but the flag still
foated above the wave in the sight of the
shipping 1t was afterwards found that she
! sank from weakness through injuries in pre-
vious service. Her plates had been knocked
loose in previous times. SO you have in
| nerve, and muscle, and bone, and dimmed
eyesight, and difficult hearing, and shortneSs
or breath, many intimatlons that you are
| gradually going down. 1t is the service Of
twenty three years that is telling ON you. Be
OF good cheer. We owe you just as much as
! though your life-blood had gurgled through the
scuppers of the ship in the Red River expedi-
ton, or as though you had gone down with
the Melville off Hatteras. Only keep. your
| tag flying as did the illustrious Weehawken.
Good cheer, my boys The memory Of
man is poor and all that talk about the
country never forgetting those who fought
for 1t is an untruth 1t does forget. Witness
| now The veterans sometimes had to turn the
hand-o"gans on the street to get their families
a living. Witness how ruthlessly some of
| them have been turned out of office that
some bloat of politician might take their
place. Witness the fact that there is not a
man or woman now under thirty years of
age, who has any full appreciation of
the four years martyrdom of 1861 and 1865
| inclusive. But while men may forget, God
never forgets. He remembers the swinging
hammock. He remembers the forecastle. He
remembers the frozen ropes of that January
tempest. He remembers the amputation with
out sufficient ether. He remembers the hOr-
rors of that deafeping ssigkt when forts from
both sides belched on you their fury, and
descending missiles of death, and
your ship quaked under the re-
coil of the one hundred FOUNDER, while all the
| gunners according to command, stood on
tlptoe with mouth wide open lest the concus-
sion shatter hearing or brain. He remembers
it all better than you remember it, and in
some shape reward will be given. God is the
best of all paymasters, and for those who do
their whole duty to Him and the world the
pension awarded is an everlasting heaven.
Sometimes off the coast of England the
Royal Family have inspected the British
navy manoeuvred before them for that pur-
pose. In the Baltic Sea the Gar and Czarina
have reviewed the Russian navy. To bring
before the American people the debt they
owe to the navy go out with you on the At
lantic Ocean where there is plenty of room,
and in imagination review the war-ship-
ping of our three great conflicts-1776, 1872,
and 1865. Swing into line all ye frig-
ates, ironclads, fire-rafts, gunboats, and
men-of-warl There they come, all sail
set ana all furnaces in full blast, sheaves of
crystal tossing from their cutting prows.
That is the Delaware, an old Revolutionary
craft, commanded by Commodore Decatur.
Yonder goes the Constitution, Commodore
Hull commanding. There is the Chesapeake,
commanded by Captain Lawrence, whose dy-
ing, words were: Don't give up the ship;;'
and the Niagara, of 1872 commanded by
Commodore Perry, who wrote on the back of
an old letter, resting on his navy cap:
I'VE have met the enemy and they are
ours. Yonder is the flagship Wabash,
Admiral Dupont commanding; yonder, the
flagship Minnesota, Admiral Goldborough
commanding; yonder, the John Adams,
Admiral Stringham commanding; yonder,
the flagship Philadelphia, Admiral Dahlgren
Jacinto, Admiral Bailey commanding
yonder the Carondelet, Admiral Wathe
commanding; yonder, the flagship Black
Hawk, Admiral Porter commanding; yonder
the flag steamer Benton, Admiral
Foote commanding, yonder the flagship
Hartford, David Glascoe Farragut command
ing. And now all the squadrons of al
departments, from smallest tugboat tc
mlghtlest man-of-war are in procession
decks and rigging filled with men who fought
on the sea for the old flag ever since we were
a nation. Grandest fleet the world ever saw
Sail on before all ages! Run up all the
colorsl Ring all the bells! YEA open all
the porth Umlimber the guns and load
and fire one great boardside that shall shake the
continents in honor of peace and the eternity
| of the American Unionl But lift my hand
and the scene has vanished. Many of the
ships have dropped under the crystal pave
ment Of the deep, sea monsters swimming III
and out of the forsaken cabin, and other old
craft have swung into the navy yards, and
many of the brave spirits who trod theil
decks are gone up to the Eternal Fortress
from whose easements and embrasureS may
enot hope they look down to-day with Joy
upon a nation in reunited brotherhood.
At this annual commemoration | bethinl
that most of you who were in the naval ser
vice during our late war are now in the after
noon or evening of life. With some of you
it is two o'clock, three o'clock, four o'clock
six o'clock, and it will soon be sundown
If you were of age when the war broke
out, you are now at least forty-eight
Many of you have passed into the sixties
and the seventies therefore it is ap
propriate that / hold two great lights
for your illumination-the example of Chris
tian admiras consecrated to Christ and Their
country, Admiral Foote and Admiral Farra,
gut. Had the Christian religion been a
cowardly thing they would have had nothing
to do with it. In its faith they lived and
died In our Brooklyn navy-yard Admira
Quoted q revival on the receiving
ship North Carolina, and on sabbaths